Simon Pegg: 'I'm not a romcom king'

Simon Pegg is back on the big screen starring in the romantic comedy, How To Lose Friends & Alienate People, alongside Kirsten Dunst, Megan Fox and Gillian Anderson. The Spaced star talks to Newsbeat about getting up close with Megan, Tin Tin rumours and his love for Cheryl Cole crying.

How to Lose Friends star Simon Pegg with Margo Stilley and Gillian Anderson

Are you anything like your character Sidney Young at all?

Not in the slightest. I can't stand all this s***. He just doesn't care what people think about him. I think I do. I'm a little more paranoid.

This is a romcom. You're fast becoming the romcom king do you like that?

No I'm not. I don't want to be the romcom king. I've just done two in row.

The next film I do will be a stalk and slash epic killer biopic. I'll do two in a row and then I'll become the serial killer king. I just want to do what makes me happy really.

This was a great script and had a brilliant director who worked on Curb Your Enthusiasm which is one of my favourite shows.

You've got to choose what you do for yourself, not what other people are going to think of you or call you or where it's going to take you. It's a job and you've got to enjoy it.

You didn't get a kiss from Megan Fox. Were you disappointed?

No we had a slinky dance together anyway. Megan is delightful. She's enormous fun.

She's actually a big nerd. Everyone thinks Megan is this glamour puss but she's just a comic reading surfer girl from California. Megan's not what everyone thinks she is.

She is also a very good actress which surprises some people because they think she is all about the way she looks but she's not.

We used to sit around and she used to tell me about surfing between takes. Megan is a big conspiracy theorist as well.

So Paul is your next film. What is that going to be about?

It's about two British guys who go on a road trip across America and get into some crazy adventures.

It's actually a nice departure for me because I didn't do any of the writing. That was great because I could hand over the reins a little bit. Once in a while it's nice not to be such a control freak.

Simon Pegg and Gillian Anderson on the red carpet

Is it true you've been signed up to play Tin Tin?

I can neither confirm or deny those rumours at the moment.

It's just something Steven Spielberg and I were shooting around. Who knows.

We'll have to wait and see it was just something we were playing around with. It's been quoted as fact but it's not really.

What about a Spaced movie?

I don't know if that would work because it was very much a TV show. It was about big things happening on a small screen. Thematically I think it would be out of place.

What do you think of Cheryl Cole in The X Factor?

Cheryl is brilliant. I think she is incredibly beautiful and she's doing a great job. I love it when she cries. She is such a sensitive soul.